The Bar Owners Handbook
By: Randle_McMurphy A familiar looking gentleman in a black pinstripe suit emerges from the alleyway you just passed. He hastens his walk to catch up beside you, and looking around carefully, pulls you closer by the arm and begins to speak… Maybe you remember me, we spoke briefly when you made it to Hoodlum, by the looks of things you’ve taken some of my advice. Congratulations on becoming a Bar Owner, you’re nowhere near the top of the ladder yet, but at least you have your foot on a rung… I’ll keep this basic, I don’t want to spoil all the fun of your new ‘business venture’. Now you have a bar, you can run ‘memberships’, you know, like a private club, just for your guys. You’ve probably noticed the room marked “Staff Only” at the back of your place, this is where only you and your little crew can go, it’s a place where you can talk business away from the rest of the establishment. If you’ve got anything that you only want your ‘members’ to see, or discuss, then this is the place to do it. Secondly, you might not have too many friends that you want to offer a membership card to at this point, or maybe all of your friends already have other bars they go to. This might bring you to advertise in the local press or hand flyers out in the streets. If you’re thinking of doing this, then listen very carefully to my next piece of advice… If your flyer looks like a five year old drew it up with a crayon in playschool, people are going to laugh at it and throw it straight in the bin. Read over it a few times before you go out onto the streets with it, make sure it looks professional. After all, this is trying to attract people to YOUR bar, there are quite a few in town. Sure, people know they’re not just getting a bar membership, they realise there will be ‘business opportunities’ that come along as perks, but all the other bars offer these too. Get a friend to read over it before it goes to publication, sometimes you can miss things yourself, and a fresh opinion is always a good thing. Don’t make it too short; perhaps write a little about yourself, and your bar, and what you are looking for in a member. Also, remember that you might not want to let any old bum that contacts you into your members club. These are people you are going to be dealing with on a close basis for some time once you open up, so remember that. Take some time to talk to them before sending out their membership card, get to know them, see if you trust them to behave themselves. Some people ask for references or a CV, but that’s entirely up to you. Remember, the people coming and going from your establishment will reflect on your reputation as well. If you recruit idiots, people might think you’re an idiot. As you start to gain members, you may want to make some sort of staff list, it’s difficult running everything by yourself. Designate people to do certain things, it really depends just what you’re up to behind the closed doors of your Staff Room… From here on out, you’re pretty much on your own, but try and talk to other bar owners in your city, remember, competition can get quite fierce, it might be a good idea to try and stay friendly with the locals, or maybe your bar could end up like O’Flannigans on 5th Street, burned out and derelict... Good luck, you’ve got some fun times ahead of you. With that the gentleman ducks out down the next alleyway giving you a wave and a nod of approval. As quickly as he arrived, he was gone.